What If
by messofadreamers
Summary: A series of Rayna and Deacon drabbles/one-shots AU and not. If you have a prompt submit it in a review, i need inspiration so please do that; it could be a 'what if' AU prompt or not, let your imagination run free.
1. Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop

**prompt:**_ meeting for the first time at a coffee shop._

_Rayna's Pov._

I was late for work. As usual. Tandy is always asking where i'm going every single afternoon after lunch and i always need time to make up some excuses about homeworks with Alison or piano lessons, something that my sister could believe. I could never tell Tandy about my job at Sully's or i know she would tell dad in no second and i'll never hear the end of it. I can already hear him screaming 'What in the world is a Wyatt doing at a shitty coffee shop in East Nashville?! What would happen if someone who knows us see you there?! Do you really have no respect at all for this family?! We have a name in Nashville that we have to maintain, you're royalty in this city start acting like it for God's sake.' I act like it every single day in school, if you're not a spoiled rich girl then there's nothing and no one for you at Vanderbilt High School. I hate that place, my sister loves it. She's very popular there, everyone loves her while i'm just the 'other Wyatt' but i couldn't care less, i have a couple of great friends and that's more than enough for me. Alison and Jake are just like me: tired of putting up with our family's bullshit. We want to grow up on our terms, we want to have fun and go out on Saturdays nights not spending Sundays at the Country Club. Only Alison and Jake know and understand why i decided to look for a job, i dont wanna depend on my father anymore. Dad says that Alison is a bad influence for me, she's a rebel just like i am. He loves Jake though, he hopes that i will marry him someday and everytime he brings this up i just start laughing because Jake is a gay but of course nobody knows except for me and Alison. Poor dad he's gonna be so disappointed.

"Rayna where in the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry, i swear it's not gonna happen again"

"That's what you said the last time"

"I'm truly sorry Paul"

"Rayna remember that there are tons of other pretty girls out there with whom i can replace you with"

"As i said, it's not gonna happen again."

"Fine. Now get to work"

Thankfully there weren't many costumers so i didnt have much to do, which was great because i had to finish my papers for school in between breaks. One hour later, just as i was finishing writing down the last sentence of my English essay, a guy walked in. He had a grey t-shirt on and a pair of looked pretty hot, i have to admit it. He could have been no more than a couple of years older than me.

"Ehy, a macchiato please"

"Sure, you wanna sit in the meanwhile?"

"Yeah"

"I'll be there in a sec"

"Here"

"Thank you"

As i was walking back to the counter, my notebook fell from my pocket but i didn't notice it, he did.

"Ehy i think this one belongs to you"

"Thank you"

"What are these? Poems?"

"No, actually they're songs"

"You sing?"

"Yeah, i mean no not really but i like to sing"

"Can i read one of them?"

"I should really get back to work"

"Oh come on there's no one in here except for me and that old guy over there, i'm sure you can take a 5 min break"

"Ok fine"

"Come sit with me...So can i read one of them?"

"Yes but dont laugh at me please"

"Why would i laugh? I'm sure they're wonderful"

"I wish, but i'm not that good at songwriting, i try but i'm definetely better at singing"

"What about playing?"

"I play the piano, i've been playing it since i was like 5 i think. What about you, do you play?"

"Yeah, the guitar, my uncle tought me"

"Mom bought me a guitar for my 12th bday, turned out that wasn't my thing"

He laughed, and he was beautiful... and i was ruined.

"Maybe you need a better teacher"

"You want to teach me how to play guitar?"

"First i want to know your name"

"Rayna"

"Nice to meet you Rayna, i'm Deacon, your new guitar teacher"

"You'd waste time, i'm an hopeless case"

"Well i'd like to try, if you'd let me"

"Ok, if you insist"

"I can pick you up Friday after you're finished with your shift"

"Yeah that could work"

"Ok"

"So... Ehm do you play around town or is it just a hobby of yours?"

"I do, i play at the Bluebird sometimes...Well at least when it is closed"

I laughed and he looked at me and in that moment i felt a pull in my chest i've never felt before and i didnt know if it was a good thing or not.

"I work there a couple of nights a week, serving tables and stuff..But what i'm really doing there is observing all those talented people up on that stage and trying to learn something from them"

"That place is a dream, my mom used to love going there, my dad didn't know about it of course because it was not 'lady-like' to sneak out at night to go spend a nice evening alone in a bar but mom was just like me, she couldn't care less about what other people thought. If she wanted something, she had it"

"She sounds cool"

"Yeah, she was"

"Oh i'm sorry"

"It's okay"

"Well, i really have to go now"

"Oh sure"

"So..I'll see you on Friday?"

"Yeah"

"Bring your notebook, i still have to read that song"

"Ok"

We smiled at eachother and then he was gone.

Friday.

I've never looked forward to something that much before. And i've never been more grateful for that job at Sully's.


	2. Choosing Love

_Prompt: Rayna goes to the Bluebird instead of going to Luke _

**_Deacon's Pov_**

I'm supposed to go on stage in less than 15 minutes and there is still no sight of Rayna. Maybe she's stuck in the traffic, maybe she is unsure of what to wear or what shoes to put on, maybe. She has to come. She will come.

"Deacon, are you ready?"

"I think i am"

"You're on in ten"

"Thanks man."

She still has time. Hell, she can be as late as she wants tonight, as long as she walks through that door. This time i will not screw up, this time i will love her just as she deserves. Rayna only has to give me a chance to show her that i can do it, this time.

I've hurt her more times and in more ways that i'd like to admit. She hurt me too but she had her reasons, what reason did i have for when i couldn't stay sober for more than two days in a row? That my best friend died? That my father and the rest of my family were screwed up and i didn't wanna become like them? Even if in the end i did become just as fucked up as them? Those may have been true, in the beginning. But i kept drinking. I kept drinking because i liked it. And that's it. Rayna put up with so much, not all the sorry in the world could make up for that. And it kills me that i made her suffer like that, she deserved better than a drunk ass back then. I don't remember much of those years, i have no ackowledge of most of the things i've done, to her and to me. But still there were times when i wasn't that drunk, and those i remember, painfully. There's this one memory that always comes up on my mind when i think about those dark times and that is ironic since it is the one that i try the hardest to forget.

_Flashback _

It was a late night and i was drunk but not wasted.

"Ehy baby"

I started kissing her neck and moving my hands towards her thighs.

"Not tonight Deacon"

"What's wrong?"

"I saw it"

"Saw what? What are you talking about baby?"

"Last night, after the concert. Where were you?"

"I ehm.."

"You don't recall right? And i suppose you also don't recall fucking that blondie that i found in OUR bed when i came in later that night after the party right?"

"What?! Maybe she-"

"Don't fucking try to make up excuses for her being there because we both know why she was naked in that bed"

"I swear baby i didn't mean to, i'd never cheat on you...Sober"

"But if you're drunk then it's acceptable right?!"

And then she started crying, really hard.

"God why do i keep doing this? Bearing all of this crap? Why do i have to love you that much that i just can't let you go? I don't deserve any of this"

"Baby i'm so sorry, so so sorry"

"I'm tired of your sorrys, i'm tired of you trying to make it up to me when you can't make it up to me! You just can't! I'm living my twenties between bars, hospitals and shitty motels, cleaning up vomits and hoping that my boyfriend doesnt get drunk to the point where he can't even remember me and goes fuck some random girl!I'm tired of finding you passed out so wasted that i have to pray that you will make it"

"Ray..."

"You know what Deacon? ... Sometimes i wish i had never gone to the Bluebird that night."

"Babe don't say that, you can't say that"

There was silence for a while. A very painful silence.

"Let me go Deacon, i can't do it myself so please i'm begging you do it for me. Let me go"

"You can't ask me that, you're everything to me"

"If i was we would not be having this conversation right now"

"I'll do better, i can stop this, i promise"

"You can't stop this because you don't want to stop this, not really...So don't make promises you well know you can't keep"

"I want to, i really do, i just-"

"You just can't right?... Well i don't know if im willing to wait until you'll be able to"

"Don't..Baby don't do this, please"

...

"Why am i not enough for you? Why us is not enough for you? WHY?"

She was so hurt, so broken. She was shattered.

Her words crushed me.

"Have a good night Deacon, don't call"

And just like that the door slammed, she was gone and i felt like i couldn't breath. I thought that was it. It's over. And i broke down in tears too.

I called her a hundred times the following day and the one hundred and one time she picked up.

It was not over. She was not letting me go, i wasn't either.

* * *

"Deacon you're up next...Deacon...Deacon?"

"Uhm yeah? Sorry i was just thinking"

"It's your turn, go kill them"

"Thanks man"

I went up on stage and she wasn't there, not near the door, not in the crowd. But i sang, i sang for her. I always sing for her.

_My broken promises broke your heart, time and time again._

_I let everything fall apart, i was such a fool back then_

_But you loved me once i know, so many sorrys ago._

_So here i am and i just pray that you will listen long enough to hear me when i say_

_This brand new man won't let you down_

_If you let me show you i know how to love you now_

_I see that look in your eyes, you're scared and i understand why_

_But here i am and i just pray that you will listen long enough to hear me when i say_

_This brand new man won't let you down_

_If you let me show you **i know how to love you now.**_

* * *

"Great performance as usual man"

"Thank you, i'm glad you liked the song"

"It was a nice song, a very heartful one"

"Yes, it was"

"Goodnight Deacon"

"Night"

I went to pick up my guitar and then i got out from the back exit and there she was, leaning against the wall, looking as beautiful as ever with a white dress on. I've always love how white looked on her. And then i pictured her in a wedding gown and i got so carried away that i almost forgot she was there.

"Ehy"

"Ray"

"Sorry i missed the show"

"It's ok"

"I didn't sing with you in there but we can sing now, if you still want to"

"Sure"

We didn't need to ask each other which song, we just knew.  
And so we sang the chorus of No One Will Ever Love You and then we kissed and damn it was one hell of a kiss, full of love and full of promises.

"I can't marry someone else"

"No you can't"

"We are bad for each other but we ain't good for anyone else"

"True that, we should write it down in our vows"

"I didn't say yes, yet."

"Then say it."

"Yes."

And we kissed some more, right in front of the place that brought us together in the first place. And it was magical

"I'm so glad i had gone to the Bluebird that night"

"Me too Ray, me too"


End file.
